Girls don’t just wanna have fun. We would also like more pockets in our running clothes, please and thank you. Men’s apparel, being generally looser and longer, is admittedly easier to design with storage space in mind. But too many athletic brands fall back on ease as an excuse. Put your R&D dollars to good use by giving women what we need to get out with good spirits and high health.

Notice my choice of words there: need, not want.

Female runners require the same access to fuel, hydration, and gear on the go as male runners do. In fact, we might find ourselves carrying extra equipment compared to men. Dr. Stacy Sims, an expert in female athlete physiology with over 70 peer-reviewed papers on the matter, points out that women’s “core body temperature rises about twice as quickly when we start exercising.” This aspect of our physiology renders women more susceptible to dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. With that in mind, we might not be able to rely on fortuitous water fountain pit stops alone to hydrate our workouts.

And given the way that fasted training likely carries long-term risks for female athletes, women in particular should consider carbing up on any run longer than 45 to 60 minutes. Let’s not forget all the mother runners out there either, toting along baby monitors so they can squeeze in a few precious miles during naptime.

Women deserve running clothing that supports our health and performance. But even more importantly, we deserve clothing that keeps us safe. The stories of runners like Laken Riley and Eliza Fletcher confirm that we have a lot more to fear than a mid-run bonk. Not even the regular neighborhood route we’ve taken every morning for five years straight comes risk-free. Add pepper spray, siren alarms, and tasers to the litany of non-negotiable running gear for women, whenever and wherever we want a few solo miles.

We shouldn’t have to kit ourselves out in vests fit for an ultramarathon every time we head out for an hour or two. But most women’s running apparel prioritizes aesthetics over practicality. I don’t think I’m the only one who finds confidence sexier than short inseams, though. I’d rather feel safe and self-sufficient on a run than worry about what bulging pockets do to my silhouette.

My hunt for well-pocketed options has gone on long enough, though, to suggest that practicality doesn’t come easy. It’s not just fashion versus function. The female body — with all its curves and burdens — presents a unique challenge for designers. Athletic clothing has to control for bouncing, chafing, pinching, and bunching without restricting movement anywhere else.

Of the few brands that have tried to tack on storage solutions as well, fewer still have found success at the intersection of cute, comfortable and utilitarian. I imagine we’ll see more innovation in this arena over years to come as women become more outspoken about what they need out of their athletic apparel. The public response to Citius Mag’s first look at the controversially skimpy USATF uniforms designed by Nike suggests that female runners are tired of brands that don’t at least try to check all of the boxes.

In the meantime, here are a handful of clothing options for female runners that already do. Gather up all the gels, gear, and gadgets you need for runs that might not justify a full-on hydration vest. They’ll fit into these tops and bottoms with pockets galore incorporated into the designs.

And unlike many pockets that seem like a great idea until you actually fill them up, these distribute the weight in ways that won’t have you picking wedgies the entire time. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.

Backcountry Wasatch Bra

Runners love to multitask. Easy morning jogs are for knocking out family phone calls, catching up on podcasts, prepping for work meetings, and planning the week’s meals. So clothes that claim to pull double-duty as well as we do trigger instant intrigue. It’s well-earned in the Wasatch Bra from Backcountry, where sports bra meets hydration vest.

The high neckline houses two flask sleeves in the front and a phone in the back, while a tunnel pocket around the bottom holds poles or a jacket and side slots stash gels. It’s an entire hydration vest minus the extra layer.

Frankly, the Wasatch works better than most dedicated hydration vests because of the compression. The Wasatch fits tighter than most sports bras so that it can hold a long run’s worth of supplies. Give it time to stretch out slightly during the first wear before you deem it worse than a corset. You’ll soon appreciate how well it controls for bouncing, both in terms of what’s underneath the bra itself and what’s inside the pockets. The full front zipper also eliminates the worst part of wearing any sports bra, let alone one loaded up with gear: wrestling it on and off.

The front sleeves can fit the same 16-ounce flasks that work for hydration vests. However, those with necks on the short side like mine might want to downsize to keep the nozzles from scraping up their chins. Smaller options like HydraPak’s miniature 250 and 150 mL SoftFlasks slide all the way into the sleeves.

I opt for this over regular vests on runs and races that don’t take me out so far as to warrant more water than that at a time anyway, but just far enough to need a few sips. The Wasatch Bra is perfect for those awkward in-between distances.

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Oiselle Toolbelt Roga Shorts

Every pair of running shorts with side pockets has disappointed me. The placement of the pockets on the leg just tugs them down and makes whatever I put inside dig into my hip bones. That takes rigid, bulky items like phones, keys, wallet — basically all the essentials –off the table.

Oiselle got the picture and moved the pockets up to the waistband in the Toolbelt Roga Shorts. As one of the only by-women, for-women running apparel brands out there, the women behind Oiselle understand how the female body works. Our center of gravity lies just below the belly button, right where waistbands tend to hit. Storing items there instead of further down the leg helps with stability and weight distribution.

Five pockets positioned all the way around the waistband of the Toolbelt Roga Shorts can carry all the essentials without bouncing or bruising, no matter their size or shape: gels, keys, cards, phone, lip balm, taser, gloves, hat, and even a small water bottle. All but the back zippered pocket are made from open-topped stretch mesh for easy access. Feel free to fill them all up to the brim; all it takes is a tug on the inner drawstring to hold these shorts in place at max capacity.

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Smartwool Run Legging

Bear with me while I walk back everything I just said about side pockets. Not really, though, because I do stand by that opinion when it comes to shorts. But the same method of moving pockets to the waistband wouldn’t work as well on high-waisted leggings because of how high they sit on the stomach. Any amount of weight up there would only make the waist flop over and take both legs with it.

So when it comes to tights, we make do with side pockets. Smartwool does it best with the Run Legging. Pliable things work best in the side pockets so they don’t irritate your hip joints. They’re big enough to store a solid handful of gels or a small soft flask, but not so deep that you’ll have to go digging.

I still wouldn’t put something heavier like a phone or wallet in them, but a zippered back pocket works well instead. It’s centered low on the sacrum, right where the curve of your butt can act like a shelf to stabilize the contents. That may be the strangest design detail I’ve ever appreciated in a pair of pants.

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Lululemon Define Jacket

Jacket pockets don’t usually work well for running because outer layers fit more loosely than shorts or leggings, so anything you put in the pockets is liable to drive you crazy with incessant bouncing. The Define Jacket from Lululemon wouldn’t be any exception if it weren’t for one particular design choice: a pocket inside of a pocket.

On the inner lining of your run-of-the-mill front pocket hides a secret stretch mesh pocket that lies flat against the abdomen. It can’t hold much more than a few keys or cards at a time, but those are the kinds of loose items that tend to rattle around most annoyingly. Stash them in this snug pocket so they don’t jingle with every step.

From there, we go rogue. If pockets are meant to contain things, then the “cuffins” on the Define Jacket should also count. The sleeves take thumbholes to the next level by adding a mitt that folds over your fingers in place of actual mittens. That’s one less article of clothing you have to wear, or stash in a pocket as you warm up. I don’t know how often I even donned real gloves this winter for that reason.

Anything to simplify the supply.

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Lucie Hanes is an avid writer and adventurer on rock and trail with a passion for sharing her outdoor enthusiasms through journalism and mental strength consultation.